Giotto's Hand - Iain Pears

As well as crafting, my other main passion is reading. I used to review on my Livejournal every book I read, didn't do it last year, and have just begun again. As I know a lot of my stitching bloggy friends are also readers, I thought I would post the reviews here too. I'm quite active on a number of book sites (including Bookcrossing, Bookmooch, ReadItSwapIt and GreenMetropolis) and I'm happy to give out my IDs if you drop me an email.

Product Description (from Amazon)

Witty and clever art history-mystery featuring Jonathan Argyll, from the author of the bestselling masterpiece 'An Instance of the Fingerpost'. General Bottando of Rome's Art Theft Squad is in trouble: his theory that a single master criminal, dubbed 'Giotto', is behind a string of major art thefts has aroused the scorn of his arch enemy and rival, the bureaucrat Corrado Argan. He needs a result, and the confession of a dying woman may just provide the vital clue. In pursuit of the elusive Giotto, Bottando's colleague, Flavia di Stefano, sets off hotfoot for Florence, and English art dealer Jonathan Argyll is dispatched to London and then on to rural Norfolk -- only to discover a body and a mystery which could lead to the greatest art find of his career!

This was an enjoyable and amusing "whodunnit" which harked back to the Golden Age of crime novels, with its setting in a Miss Marple-ish village where the local Lady of the Manor opens the Village Fete and the villagers are all related to one another...

Looking at Bookcrossing, I have read this book before, but I couldn't remember it ... so it's not an amazing book, but it is one that adequately passes the time. I realised the perpetrator quite early one, because they appear in a later book in this series, which I do remember ... I think!

Saturday Update

I didn't stitch at all yesterday - although I intended to!

I was going to Nottingham for a Bookcrossing meet, and as usual, dithered on the computer a bit too long. As I had a train to catch, I grabbed my scissors, a small hoop and a Periwinkle Promises kit to wile away the train journey (it's about 50 minutes). Got to the station, just in time to get the train, settled in my seat, opened the kit ... oops! Periwinkle Promises kits don't include a needle, and my needle box was in my other handbag... Fortunately, I had a book on me :o)

There doesn't seem to be a general craft shop in the middle of Nottingham, but I did find The Bead Shop, where I got a few charms, some seed beads, and a wire knitting kit to make myself a bracelet. It sounds fun - and easy :o)